Editorial Christ is Risen, Pope Francis is Dead

Editorial ---- On the Repose of Pope Francis at the Convergence of Easter & Pascha

“O death, where is thy sting? O grave, where is thy victory?” (1 Cor. 15:55)

There are moments in history when the convergence of events speaks more powerfully than any declaration; moments when Providence permits a juxtaposition so striking that it becomes a judgment—not necessarily of condemnation, but of sobering significance. The recent repose of Pope Francis—hypothetically occurring on the very day when both Roman Catholic Easter and Orthodox Pascha were observed together—marks such a moment. It demands of us, not euphoric speculation, nor sentimental ecumenism, but a piercing theological discernment rooted in Orthodox truth, patristic sobriety, and ecclesial vigilance.

That such a death should occur at the liturgical intersection of East and West, and during a season marked by unprecedented overtures between the Vatican and the Phanar, is no mere historical coincidence. For months now, Pope Francis and Patriarch Bartholomew have publicly signaled intentions to unify the celebration of Pascha, with Rome offering to adopt the Julian or Revised Julian Paschalion in the name of “ecumenical progress.” The hope, it is said, is to realize a perpetual alignment of calendars—a symbolic act meant to bring East and West closer to visible unity.

Yet herein lies the danger. A calendar agreement outside the context of doctrinal and ecclesial repentance—outside true theological reconciliation—becomes a symbolic collapse. It is unity in image, not in truth; convergence without confession. And when such unity is sought through diplomatic gestures rather than sacramental return, it constitutes not healing but illusion.

From the standpoint of the Genuine Orthodox Church (GOC), which has preserved unadulterated both the Orthodox faith and the canonical calendar against the waves of modernism, ecumenism, and calendar innovation, this moment bears a threefold significance:

1. A Warning Against Synthetic Unity
Pope Francis’ death on Pascha, at the very hour in which he labored to effect a symbolic unification of the Easters, underscores the ultimate futility of liturgical coordination apart from repentance. He dies not reconciled to the Orthodox Church, but as the supreme hierarch of a body separated by centuries of heresy and innovation. Unity, from an Orthodox view, is not the convergence of holidays, but the return to Truth. The calendar cannot become a Trojan horse smuggling false ecclesiology into the Body of Christ.

2. A Judgment Upon the Ecumenical Project
The timing of this repose may, in the conscience of the Church, be received as a divine punctuation—perhaps even a merciful suspension—of a project that has been leading the faithful astray. For decades, the Ecumenical Patriarchate has labored not to defend the boundaries of Orthodoxy, but to blur them. The push for calendar alignment is not grounded in Holy Tradition, but in a political ecclesiology that seeks unity with Rome without Rome’s repentance. That this moment would be marked by the death of its most visible Western agent may be a divine act of restraint.

3. A Reminder That Death Is Not Ecumenical
Death is not subject to diplomatic dialogue. It is the great equalizer and the great revealer. No matter how progressive one’s theology, how grand one’s intentions, or how powerful one’s office—death testifies to the absolute sovereignty of Christ, who alone holds the keys of death and hades (Rev. 1:18). That Pope Francis should die at Pascha is not necessarily a sign of blessedness, but a sign that his time has ended—and with it, perhaps, the ecumenical delusion of a unity not grounded in truth.

The repose of any soul should evoke prayer and trembling, not gloating. Yet for the Orthodox, this event should also occasion renewed clarity and unwavering fidelity. The fact that East and West celebrated Pascha on the same day this year is not a validation of calendar unification, but a providential opportunity to reflect on what truly unites us to Christ: not temporal alignment, but doctrinal integrity, mystical life, sacramental grace, and repentance.

Let the Orthodox faithful beware: the temptation to reduce the Church to symbols, calendars, and gestures is as old as the heresies that fractured Christendom. Let us not be seduced by surface harmonies. Instead, let us return to the ancient paths—where the saints, the martyrs, the confessors and ascetics stood immovable in faith, preserving uncorrupted the Orthodox phronema and refusing every false unity not grounded in the Cross.

Pope Francis is dead. The calendar will now return to its dissonance. But the Church of Christ—the Una Sancta—endures, immaculate and ever-bright, celebrating the Pascha of the Lord not on man’s terms, but in the fullness of divine revelation.

Christ is Risen. Truly, He is Risen. And He shall judge the living and the dead, and His Kingdom shall have no end.

May the Lord have mercy on us all.

CORRECTION The Roman Pontiff died at 11:17 am EST Monday April 21, 2025

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submitted by Stavroforemonk Symeon Agiomicheltítēs